Clucks and Giggles
Songster
Hello All 
,
So, I am not sure how to start this, so I'll just start. I'm a 58 yr old South Floridian grandma who has always avidly organic-gardened and have yearned for a small homestead for about a decade now. (I grew up with parents that organic gardened on 3 acres in N.J. northwest mountains, and always had Rodales, Mother Earth News and Foxfire books all while growing up in our home). I've always had dogs and cats, and even a bunny at one time, and also fish and gerbils, and grandparents in Mississippi that had chickens and a small homestead. Well I decided to treat myself and finally take the plunge and get some chickens. My hubby and I have 5 acres in the Georgia mountains for our eventual retirement in a couple of years, so I thought I would at least have chickens to start out with now. So I spent the previous Spring studying like crazy about chickens and went to TSC and brought home 6 chicks in mid-June 2022. Well needless to say, the 2 'supposed' Brahmas were Commercial Reds, and one is a Roo (Possie & Kian-Roo). The supposed Orpington is an Easter Egger (Owlette), the 2 Blue Laced Red Wyandottes are actually Gold Penciled Wyandottes (Indigo & Jet), and the Silver Penciled Wyandotte (Kira) was the ONLY correct one. Needless to say, I am happy with the ones we actually wound up with (except the Roo, but we have kept & love him even though we are not supposed to have a Roo in my unincorporated county developement, but I have a double lot (1/2 acre) that I have lived on for the past 30 yeats, and all of my neighbors have told me they are fine with it, and as long as the county doesn't get a call from anyone, no one is the wiser (
), and I like to share eggs so they are happy about that too). Anyway, in this past year I have perservered/healed/learning-curved through 2 cases of bumble foot, some minor mite issues, flock wide dry pox, severe bullying of one hen and some multiple rooster issues, but very sadly, I lost the Silver Penciled Wyandotte 
at 10 1/2 months-old to botulism. It happened so quick and it was too late by the time I researched and definitely diagnosed it. I did fix the culprit though, as it has been raining here so much this year, that a large plant that I had in the run had some stagnant water in the pot base due to a blocked drainage hole and there were worms in it when I investigated it. 
So I immediately removed the plant, and I dumped a ton of purchased sterile sand in the run so it would drain better as our Florida soil can get a bit mucky and stagnant when it is as saturated as it has been. I put a 50% sun-blocking shade cloth over the entire run (22'×10' run of 6 ft. chain linked fencing covered and aproned with 1/2" galvanized hardware cloth) so the sand wouldn't burn their feet in summer, and I poop scoop the entire runs and coop now everyday, and I also have oscilliating fans in the roof covered part of the run (7'×5'), and also an exhaust fan in their shed coop. I also only use Sweet PDZ with Barn Lime, DE and herbs in their coop now with poop decks (except hemp and herbs in their nest boxes), and pine shavings with DE & Barn Lime in their roof covered run only so they can scratch in a different medium that never gets wet. Anyway, all these remedies seems to have stopped the bumblefoot & mites, and hopefully none of my babies will ever contract a case of botulism ever again. So now that I got through that first year, I had a plan to add 6 chickens to my flock every year so that I could keep a good rotation, and have experience with different breeds and a good start for my eventual homestead flock. TSC was out because even though they were all pretty healthy and good types, I could never be sure of what I was getting so I decided to order from My Pet Chicken (Murry Hatchery affiliate) back in February for a mid-August (2023) hatch delivery. Well chicken math and all the delightful choices got the better of me and I wound up ordering 7, lol. (Bountiful Blue Egg Layer; Green Queen; Exchaquer Leghorn; Silver Spangled Hamburg; Light Brown Leghorn; Partridge Penedesenca, and a Silver Penciled Plymoth Rock. Well needless to say, last month some other chicks that weren't available when I originally ordered became available for my ship date so I added 2 more, a Golden Cuckoo Maran and a Bielefelder (ughh, I need to discipline myself better), and they added them without any hassle or extra shipping charges, just the added cost of the chicks and their vacs. Last week, right before their ship date on this past Monday, they called me and said they did not have the Silver Penciled Plymouth Rock available for my shipment. I knew this was a possibility when I ordered and noted that I would except substitutions within my desired list if this happened. They substituted me with a chicken that was a $35 Partridge Olive Egger for the $10 Silver Penciled Plymouth Rock with my permission and no extra charge on my part. So good on them, and even though I am dissapointed in not having the SPPR, I am still happy. They hatched and shipped (from OH) on Monday, and I was able to pick them up at my post office (S. FL) on Tuesday afternoon. They are all super healthy and active so far, and I am very impressed and happy with my new adorable cuties. So, this brings me to where I am now. I have found this site so helpful in this past year tackling my chicken issues and setting up their coop/runs and also for basic education, that since I am starting into my 2nd year with chickens and a much bigger flock now, I thought I need to be able to really exchange in conversations on this site, and also, like all of you, I just really love being a chicken mama. 
So, thank you for indulging me if you got this far in reading my ramble (please forgive me), and I am so looking forward to being part of this community now. 
,So, I am not sure how to start this, so I'll just start. I'm a 58 yr old South Floridian grandma who has always avidly organic-gardened and have yearned for a small homestead for about a decade now. (I grew up with parents that organic gardened on 3 acres in N.J. northwest mountains, and always had Rodales, Mother Earth News and Foxfire books all while growing up in our home). I've always had dogs and cats, and even a bunny at one time, and also fish and gerbils, and grandparents in Mississippi that had chickens and a small homestead. Well I decided to treat myself and finally take the plunge and get some chickens. My hubby and I have 5 acres in the Georgia mountains for our eventual retirement in a couple of years, so I thought I would at least have chickens to start out with now. So I spent the previous Spring studying like crazy about chickens and went to TSC and brought home 6 chicks in mid-June 2022. Well needless to say, the 2 'supposed' Brahmas were Commercial Reds, and one is a Roo (Possie & Kian-Roo). The supposed Orpington is an Easter Egger (Owlette), the 2 Blue Laced Red Wyandottes are actually Gold Penciled Wyandottes (Indigo & Jet), and the Silver Penciled Wyandotte (Kira) was the ONLY correct one. Needless to say, I am happy with the ones we actually wound up with (except the Roo, but we have kept & love him even though we are not supposed to have a Roo in my unincorporated county developement, but I have a double lot (1/2 acre) that I have lived on for the past 30 yeats, and all of my neighbors have told me they are fine with it, and as long as the county doesn't get a call from anyone, no one is the wiser (
), and I like to share eggs so they are happy about that too). Anyway, in this past year I have perservered/healed/learning-curved through 2 cases of bumble foot, some minor mite issues, flock wide dry pox, severe bullying of one hen and some multiple rooster issues, but very sadly, I lost the Silver Penciled Wyandotte at 10 1/2 months-old to botulism. It happened so quick and it was too late by the time I researched and definitely diagnosed it. I did fix the culprit though, as it has been raining here so much this year, that a large plant that I had in the run had some stagnant water in the pot base due to a blocked drainage hole and there were worms in it when I investigated it. So I immediately removed the plant, and I dumped a ton of purchased sterile sand in the run so it would drain better as our Florida soil can get a bit mucky and stagnant when it is as saturated as it has been. I put a 50% sun-blocking shade cloth over the entire run (22'×10' run of 6 ft. chain linked fencing covered and aproned with 1/2" galvanized hardware cloth) so the sand wouldn't burn their feet in summer, and I poop scoop the entire runs and coop now everyday, and I also have oscilliating fans in the roof covered part of the run (7'×5'), and also an exhaust fan in their shed coop. I also only use Sweet PDZ with Barn Lime, DE and herbs in their coop now with poop decks (except hemp and herbs in their nest boxes), and pine shavings with DE & Barn Lime in their roof covered run only so they can scratch in a different medium that never gets wet. Anyway, all these remedies seems to have stopped the bumblefoot & mites, and hopefully none of my babies will ever contract a case of botulism ever again. So now that I got through that first year, I had a plan to add 6 chickens to my flock every year so that I could keep a good rotation, and have experience with different breeds and a good start for my eventual homestead flock. TSC was out because even though they were all pretty healthy and good types, I could never be sure of what I was getting so I decided to order from My Pet Chicken (Murry Hatchery affiliate) back in February for a mid-August (2023) hatch delivery. Well chicken math and all the delightful choices got the better of me and I wound up ordering 7, lol. (Bountiful Blue Egg Layer; Green Queen; Exchaquer Leghorn; Silver Spangled Hamburg; Light Brown Leghorn; Partridge Penedesenca, and a Silver Penciled Plymoth Rock. Well needless to say, last month some other chicks that weren't available when I originally ordered became available for my ship date so I added 2 more, a Golden Cuckoo Maran and a Bielefelder (ughh, I need to discipline myself better), and they added them without any hassle or extra shipping charges, just the added cost of the chicks and their vacs. Last week, right before their ship date on this past Monday, they called me and said they did not have the Silver Penciled Plymouth Rock available for my shipment. I knew this was a possibility when I ordered and noted that I would except substitutions within my desired list if this happened. They substituted me with a chicken that was a $35 Partridge Olive Egger for the $10 Silver Penciled Plymouth Rock with my permission and no extra charge on my part. So good on them, and even though I am dissapointed in not having the SPPR, I am still happy. They hatched and shipped (from OH) on Monday, and I was able to pick them up at my post office (S. FL) on Tuesday afternoon. They are all super healthy and active so far, and I am very impressed and happy with my new adorable cuties. So, this brings me to where I am now. I have found this site so helpful in this past year tackling my chicken issues and setting up their coop/runs and also for basic education, that since I am starting into my 2nd year with chickens and a much bigger flock now, I thought I need to be able to really exchange in conversations on this site, and also, like all of you, I just really love being a chicken mama. So, thank you for indulging me if you got this far in reading my ramble (please forgive me), and I am so looking forward to being part of this community now. 
Glad you joined.
